Swap pricing: Evidence from the sterling swap market

This paper uses a unique high frequency data set to investigate the pricing of a one-year sterling interest rate swap. Empirical analysis finds that the mean level of the swap/theoretical swap rate differential is 0.2 basis points with a standard deviation of 1.4 basis points. The swap quote is within three basis points of the theoretical swap rate for 99.4% of observations. Arbitrage opportunities are very limited when transaction costs are considered. These statistics compare very favourably with those reported in prior studies, emphasising the importance of high frequency data to the assessment of pricing efficiency in financial markets.